But a little digging referred to some previous covering of the subject matter, including the 1961 Twilight Zone episode "Shadow Play" where a man is executed day after day after day in what may be a dream but is certainly recurrant.

Also the X-Files episode "Monday" (and "Redrum" to a lesser extent) are along the same lines. "Monday" is one of the series' best episodes.

Segueing along nicely to one of the weakest: the series finale that I mercifully never watched. (Sidebar: "mercifulously" is not a word)

The most horrible thing about all this is that in the beginning, the X-Files took a sleek and smart approach to the supernatural and, more specifically, conspiracy theory. Now the 'overreaching plot' of the X-Files (the parts that can be made out) just seems like something Stan Lee and Gene Roddenbury would dream up together after a night of drinking coffee at IHOP and smoking weed. I say this in all seriousness. There was a period where a character dropped the phrase "shape-shifting alien bounty hunter" without bursting into laughter.

(As for Day Break, I oddly enough watched the series premiere. Seems interesting, though I'll miss subsequent episodes and eventually not care -- same as X-Files and Voyager and Enterprise for that matter.)